It was inevitable that Stuart Pearce's first match as an international manager would belie its designation as a friendly. Motivation was never a problem for Pearce when he wore the three lions as a player and something of that spirit was evident in the way his England team came back from two down to maintain the unbeaten record established under Peter Taylor.

It was probably equally inevitable that the man who headed the equaliser was Leroy Lita, the striker who scored both goals in Reading's victory over Manchester City last weekend. "I said to all the squad they'd have some involvement before the [European] Championships this summer and that when their chance came they needed to stake a claim," said Pearce, who called Lita off the bench to join David Nugent up front after an hour. "Leroy did himself an immense favour."

The manager had sent out his team with five in midfield, a formation which seems likely to be replicated by the senior team this evening. David Bentley snapped into tackles in a manner which must have reminded Pearce of himself, but with Tom Huddlestone and Nigel Reo-Coker in holding roles James Milner and Ashley Young struggled to get involved, leaving Nugent an isolated and frustrated figure up front.

Spain began to probe with increasing confidence. Curtis Davies got away with a penalty-area shove on the impressive Roberto Soldado, Alejandro Alfaro blazed high and wide and it was no real surprise when they took the lead, albeit the goal was gifted to them by successive miskicks by the goalkeeper Scott Carson and Davies. Raúl García took advantage to set up Soldado for an assured finish.

Shortly before half-time Spain made it two, Reo-Coker and Bentley getting in each other's way to hand possession to Soldado, who passed to Antonio Barragán. The full-back drew the covering Davies before picking out José Jurado for another excellent finish.

Pearce reacted by bringing on Theo Walcott as an orthodox left-winger, with Milner wide right and Reo-Coker pushing further forward. England looked more comfortable and were rewarded when the Spain defence failed to clear Bentley's free-kick and Nugent hit a crisp left-foot shot beyond Antonio Adán.

Pearce made another immediate change, bringing on Kieran Richardson for Huddlestone and waving his team forward. Spain went close next, Raúl García beating Carson but seeing his shot come back off a post, before Lita headed Davies's centre past Adán to set up an exciting final few minutes.

"I said at half-time the bloody nose they'd given us would stand us in good stead this summer," said Pearce, who hinted that he hoped Manchester City would let him be involved with the team come the next friendly against Italy next month - a match at which he had intended to be present anyway.